generic
Latest
A generic HIV prevention drug should arrive in 2021
Pharmaceutical giant Gilead has agreed to release its exclusive patent to manufacture and sell the HIV-prevention drug Truvada. This means we could see a generic version of the pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP) on the market earlier than expected. The news is seen as a win for individuals who may be at a greater risk of contracting HIV.
iPad is the only tablet brand many consumers know
In two years, the iPad has become a household name. Now it may be turning into a generic term for all tablet products, says a report by the AP's Mae Anderson. The "genericization" of brand names happens over and over again, but it only affects a small fraction of all brands (estimated at less than 5% in the US). Band-Aid, Thermos, Kleenex, Yo-Yo and aspirin all started out as brand names that have (to a greater or lesser degree) become generic terms for the products they identify. For most consumers, "iPad" describes all tablets the same way "Xerox" refers to any photocopier or "Googling" covers off on all Internet search. Some argue that being thought of as a generic product will weaken a brand, and in fact brands like Kleenex and Xerox spend a lot of money and effort fighting against the genericization of their trademarks. But copyright law professor Jessica Litman of the University of Michigan points out that Apple is "able to skate pretty close to the generics line while making it very clear the name is a trademark of the Apple version of this general category." Nilay Patel of The Verge disagrees vehemently, saying on Twitter that Apple's defense of the iPad brand is far too strong to allow for any trademark dilution that would lead to generic status. He says that the AP's story "badly distorts" trademark law. Edging a bit towards generic status could work in Apple's favor as competition between the iPad and Android tablets like the Kindle Fire heat up. Potential customers looking for a tablet will head to the store and may ask for an iPad (even if they mean "tablet" in the general sense). Instead of being shown several different tablets, the customer will be taken directly to the iPads and likely will walk away with the Apple device. [Via Seattle PI]
Microsoft keeps gunning after Apple's 'generic' App Store trademark, brings in a linguistics expert
We'd say this was getting silly but that would imply that it wasn't already. Microsoft and Apple are still at each other's throat over the latter's trademark application for the term "App Store," with Microsoft now bringing in a Dr. Ronald Butters, Professor Emeritus at Duke University and a man with a taste for hardcore semantics. He says the compound noun "app store" is perfectly generic in that it "does not merely describe the thing named, it is the thing named." In a wildly geeky turn, he references the potential for someone discovering a use for masers and trying to trademark the term "maser store" in response, which would seem immediately and logically absurd. An app store, says the good doctor, is no more capable of being trademarked than a grocery store or a stationery store or a computer store. Of course, as with most trademark disputes, what's truly at stake here isn't linguistics, but a big fat wad of consumer goodwill. Having previously been quite uncomfortable with the idea of buying additional software for his mobile phone, Joe Consumer has nowadays grown quite accustomed to dropping little chunks of change on smartphone apps, and the terminology that sets his mind at ease most readily is indeed "app store." Preventing others from using that well established moniker would clearly be a significant competitive advantage for Apple and it's pretty hard to argue with its contention that it's responsible for generating the goodwill that sits behind it. Then again, we reckon Android's Market, webOS' admittedly small App Catalog, and other moves by the likes of RIM, Nokia and Microsoft itself with WP7, haven't done the app store cause any harm either, so in purely ethical terms it still seems a little rich for Apple to be claiming the app store crown all to itself. As to the legal battle itself, it's descending into quite amusing minutiae, but its outcome will be of great interest to most of the aforementioned mobile ecosystem purveyors.
Apple sues Amazon for App Store trademark infringement
You had to know this was coming. Apple, which is already engaged in a heated battle with Microsoft to prove that it deserves the sole rights over its "App Store" trademark claim, has filed suit against Amazon for "improper use" of the same. Amazon's Android Appstore seems to have been intentionally contracted to a single word to differentiate its name, but that difference isn't enough for Apple, which has asked a California court to grant a ruling preventing Amazon's use of the moniker and asking for unspecified damages. Apple claims it reached out to Amazon on three separate occasions asking it to rename its software download offering, but when faced with the lack of a "substantive response," it decided to take things to court. Its big task remains unchanged -- proving that the term App Store is something more than a generic descriptor -- and this was a somewhat inevitable move given Amazon's choice of name. The legal maneuvering, as always, continues.
Playing Hulu on Google TV is as easy as changing one setting
We know Google mentioned it would be a "good citizen" and allow Hulu to block its browser ID, but that doesn't mean you have to be one too. By default, accessing the website from a Google TV device yields a prompt hoping you'll wait for the two to work out some kind of agreement on Hulu Plus access, but with a Flash enabled browser at the ready, we're sure all you want to do is press play. The fine folks over at GadgetWhore first discovered that by digging deep into the advanced settings of the Chrome browser app and changing the browser ID to "Generic" or any custom string one may prefer, Hulu streams immediately start playing with no problem (users may want to change back to default afterwards to make sure other pages render properly.) That's one benefit of having a "run-of-the-mill" desktop browser integrated into your set-top box, so w while early adopters may only be moments away from discovering the dark side of Google TV, it seems like a few easy browser tweaks may take care of most issues -- let us know if you've run into any others.
How to get WoW Insider on your RSS software
In an ongoing series of articles we'll show you how to put WoW Insider on your own blog, guild website, personal website, or even on your computer's desktop. For a complete list of the software that's covered, check out our guide's index.About a generic RSS feed With all of our previous guides, we've basically setup the site using the RSS address for WoW Insider. Getting this address, or any other site's address, is pretty easy – but often not understood. The old adage "If you teach a man to fish, he can eat for his life," comes into play here. If you can get the RSS address for WoW Insider, then you can get it for any page and use the other guides to syndicate any other site. How to get WoW Insider's RSS Feed Address 1. Go to http://wow.joystiq.com/ 2. Click on the little orange RSS icon in the address bar. 3. You'll be taken the RSS feed, and you'll see that the address in the address bar has changed. For WoW Insider, this happens to be http://wow.joystiq.com/rss.xml . Each site will different. Just copy this address – this is the RSS feed address. 4. Use this address in any program or website that can accept it! WoW Insider, or any other site, can easily be syndicated like this.
Unbranded Palm Treo 750s get hooked up with Windows Mobile 6
AT&T customers need not apply, but users of the generic, unbranded version of the Treo 750 finally have an official option for getting their units upgraded to Windows Mobile 6. The whole timeline is kinda silly, with Vodafone, Rogers, and others all coming out with Windows Mobile 6-equipped versions of the 750 (and in some cases, official upgrades for older units) well before Palm decided to get its butt in gear and update the unbranded peeps. We've said it before, and we'll wearily say it again: we have to believe this means the AT&T update is coming any freakin' second now.[Via MoDaCo]
